You’ve decided you want to get a little bit more prepared for the unexpected…congratulations!

Honestly deciding to get started is one of the most difficult decisions on this prepping journey.

However, I know it can be overwhelming to know how and where to actually start. Do you build a bug-out bag, or buy 25 pounds of flour? Do you stockpile toilet paper or buy chocolate? (the answer is yes to both of those!) Do you build a medical kit, or stock-pile water?

Knowing where to start just take a little intentional planning based on what you’re hoping to achieve.

Today, I’m going to walk you through two main approaches you can take to prepping that can help you get organized and started on your journey.

There are two main approaches to prepping and both can work.

Prepping for a Particular Disaster

The first approach to prepping, which works really well for a lot of people is learning how to prepare for a specific emergency.

A perfect example is someone who knows their home is at risk for hurricanes because of their geography starts planning for this type of emergency. In this scenario, your prepping efforts would be designed for you and your family to safely survive a hurricane.

You’d probably stock up on water and food. You might buy storm shutters for the windows and you’d probably think through some evacuation options if you needed to leave your house. This type of prepping is very focused on what you’d need to survive a specific event.

If you are going to follow this approach, spend some time thinking about what emergencies you think you are most likely to experience. Then spend time creating a list of ideas for what you’d want to store and learn to be prepared for the most likely emergencies.

I think this type of scenario-based planning can be extremely useful, particularly in encouraging you to think through what you’d really need if an emergency took place.

Prepping for Needs Based Survival

The second approach is more of a needs-based approach. Let me explain that a little more.

In a needs based approach we look at the things we need to survive in almost any situation. Think big categories like water, food, and shelter.

This type of planning helps you prepare for ANY unexpected event.

The good news about this approach is you can create a list of what you need to survive virtually any scenario. You may be thinking, perfect, I want my family to survive no matter what happens!

But hold on just a minute, the downside to this approach is that it can require A LOT of supplies and TONS of new skills to create a safety net for any scenario.

Just think for a minute how different these two emergency scenarios look and how it would impact what you bought, stored, and planned for during your prepping.

The first scenario is a Pandemic scenario, where you are required to stay-at-home for a month or more (sound familiar?) The second one is a house fire that causes your family to evacuate to a hotel for over a month. Imagine how these two scenarios differ in terms of what you’d want to have stored and how you would have prepared your house and supplies.

In one, you’d focus on storing everything up in your house. In the second scenario, you’d focus on how to create a bag you could grab and go.

Despite the somewhat daunting part of this approach, it is useful in allowing you to think through all scenarios, but again it can require tons of supplies and lots of new skills.

The 6 Category Approach

Here’s what I recommend. Focus on your basics needs first, then add to your stores as you get more comfortable with your prepping strategy.

Here are the 6 categories I think you should focus on first (for any emergency).

1. Water - According to the experts, the human body can only survive roughly 3 days without water. Having a clean supply of water stored as well as the ability to filter water is an absolute must for any prepper. This is where I started, and it’s probably where you should start too.

2. Food - Obviously, we can survive for a while without food, but who really wants to do that unless you have no choice? You should plan to have at least a two week supply of shelf-stable food available for your family at all times. I’d also recommend having at least 72 hours of food that you can grab in the event that you need to evacuate your house at a moment’s notice.

3. Medical - You need to have basic first aid supplies and perhaps some basic trauma type of supplies for most emergency situations. Even more important than the bandaids and ice packs is the training to know how to treat basic medical emergencies. As you get more comfortable build up to more trauma type of medical training.

4. Household Supplies - If you are staying at home in an emergency think through cooking, cleaning, and heating your home. You’ll also want to make sure you have basic supplies to cover hygiene and sanitation concerns.

5. Finances - Financial health is also an important aspect of prepping. This means limiting debt, creating an emergency fund, and having some cash on hand. Although, this step can take months and years to accomplish, it’s worth starting to think about from the beginning of your prepping journey.

6. Mental Health - Being stuck at home in an emergency situation can create lots of stress for a family (COVID-19 taught us that!). Having a plan to help was your stress can go a long way in helping your family stay focused on calm. Stock up on supplies that don’t require electricity to keep you entertained.

These categories are a great starting point for your prepping journey. If you haven’t already, download my free Quick Start Guide to help you walk through how to use the categories to get ready for an emergency that lasts up to 72 hours.

Download your guide here